


Hundred Bad Days

by TrasBen



Series: You're a Skeleton and Everything's Great (not) [2]
Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Addiction, Cam is awful, Cannon Typical Amount of Puns, Child Reader, Child!AU, Found Family, Gen, It's character development I swear, Manipulation, Only Platonic Relationships Here, heck yeah, major swearing, mention of drug use
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-19
Updated: 2020-01-20
Packaged: 2020-09-07 19:36:16
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 11,456
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20314894
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TrasBen/pseuds/TrasBen
Summary: Something's a little off with the timeline.You were pulled through the machine too early, and so was your brother....In Which: your older brother is a mess and the rest of you try to cope.(Warning: this story is going to be hella more bleak than iabb with way more graphic depictions of mental illness and such,,, so,,, be warned! also, if you haven't read iabb, do that. this fic COULD make sense if you didn't, but since the character's backstories are more elaborated on ((currently!)) in iabb, then you'll probably want to read it first)





	1. Day One

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [It's All Bones, Baby](https://archiveofourown.org/works/17084126) by [TrasBen](https://archiveofourown.org/users/TrasBen/pseuds/TrasBen). 

Cambria woke up feeling far more refreshed than he had been since his childhood years - of course, his joints were aching, probably from his shitty mattress, but what else as new? The only reason he could think of why he’d be sleeping in for once in his sorry existence was that he’d had the amazing idea to call in sick today earlier.

Or… or….

Oh. Fuck.

Today… today was the day he was supposed to visit his little sister. He’d marked it down on his calendar and asked for the day off a month in advance because it was only once a month that he was allowed to even be within fifty feet of her - 

“FUCK!!!”

He scrambled up, off of his lumpy mattress, which actually felt a lot less lumpy and a lot more table-y than usual.

Also, come to think of it, this room looked a lot less crappy-bedroom-y than Cambria remembered it being and more ‘secret basement lab-y’.

And… um… where there’s supposed to be a window, there’s a giant scary looking machine. Um. Yeah.

Of course, the first scenario that Cambria could think of after first waking up is that obviously, he’d been kidnapped. His eyelights became shaky and he whipped them around frantically to take in his surroundings.

Or, fuck, maybe he did something last night, something that rhymed with ‘hugs’ but was actually a lot less friendly and a lot more memory robbing.

Further inspection revealed that it  _ was _ a secret basement lab. Not a sign of human or monster life beside himself.

Wait.

On the machine was a large circular door, slightly ajar. Peeking from the lip of the opening was a tiny, bony hand. It twitched.

“Oh god oh fuck oh fuck oh fuck - “

Cambria rushed over on shaky legs to skid in front of the door. As he’d suspected, you, his little sister, lay limply inside the compartment, snoozing.

He only stared for a few moments.

Why were you here? Did you get kidnapped, too? <strike> (or fuck did he kidnap you how high did he get how did he get you where is he) </strike> How did the kidnappers know to kidnap both of you? How did they even know the two of you were related?

Did… did Cambria have a stalker? Or, a chilling thought,  _ was somebody watching his eight year old sister? _

He’d… he’d kill them!

Quickly, Cambia scooped you up easily, you being eight and quite small and him being a little over six feet tall. Your sleeping face scrunched up slightly, and your arms moved around Cambria to cling to him like a koala.

It might have boosted his Big-Bro Confidence if he also didn’t catch sight of the chip marring your left eye socket. Just looking at it made him feel like  _ scum _ , because  _ who _ would let their eight year old sister get an injury like that?

The kind of scum, he supposed, who got his sister taken away by the state from their grandma due to unsafe living conditions.

The kind of scum who  _ made _ the living conditions ‘unsafe’.

The kind of scum who didn’t stop even then. Who didn’t stop until he got caught, until his life was already fucked.

He shushed your sleeping form and locked his gaze on the set of stairs that lead upwards to a door, undoubtedly the exit. In the back of his mind… Cambria registered that this was a little too easy. Especially after the door opened effortlessly, unlocked.

Who would take the time to stalk someone, learn they were siblings, kidnap them into a creepy basement lab, then leave the door unlocked?

It didn’t add up.

Pushing those thoughts to the side, Cambria looked at the house he’d stepped into. It was large and obviously expensive - from what he could see the ground level floor was massive, and a grand set of stairs lead up to what was probably the bedrooms.

From his current position, Cambria could see into the living room, and was taken aback by the sight of  _ multiple _ comfy-looking couches and the large tv mounted on the wall. Many gaming consoles littered the entertainment center… but…

They were all… unfamiliar

He’d never seen anything like them, especially since they seemed to be of a superior technology

… odd.

This was no time to contemplate the choices of his captors, though, right now the most important thing to do was to  _ get out _ of this house, get to some sort of phone and call the police.

… Maybe saving his baby sister from kidnappers would look good on his record. Maybe enough to get bi monthly visitation?

As if roused by his thoughts of you, you started to wiggle around in his arms.

“... Cam?” You muttered against his clavicle.

“Shhhhhhhhhhh…” He frantically started to pat your back and rock from side to side in an attempt to get you to go back to sleep.

Of course, with his luck, it didn’t work.

You started to wriggle around more until Cambria let you down to stand on your own feet. Immediately, you clung to his leg and looked around, rubbing at your injured eye socket gently with your free hand.

“Where are we?” You sounded so tired, and it just reminded Cambria of how tired and confused  _ he _ was, but he had to keep it together because right now the two of you might be, scratch that,  _ were _ definitely in a lot more shit than he felt qualified to deal with.

“Okay, Chippy, listen to me, got it?” Cambria kneeled in front of you, putting his hands on your tiny shoulders. He spoke softly and seriously, looking into your eyelights. You nodded at him, small face going serious.

“M-m’kay, bubba.”

Internally, Cambria’s SOUL melted at that - you were just  _ so cute and tiny _ . 

… At the same time, though, guilt welled up.

Why the hell was your life so shitty? Why the hell couldn’t he  _ do _ anything about it?

“We gotta go,” he started, “We, uh, I think we’ve over stayed our welcome here, so we gotta get out before the people here notice we’re leaving.”

You cocked your head, giving him a confused look, “How did we get here…?”

“I don’t know,” Cambria breathed, “I don’t know, baby.”

“... m’kay” You replied, putting your arms around his shoulders. Cambria picked you up like a toddler and carried you to the front door. From the window, he could see that it was dark outside - early morning, then?

Hoping to whatever gods were listening that there wasn’t an alarm system that was going to alert whoever the hell had kidnapped them that they were leaving as he slowly turned the knob.

It seemed to be going well - 

“PAPY?”

Cambria didn’t turn around.

Footsteps briskly walking towards Cambria.

“PAPY? WHO IS THAT?”

The footsteps came closer until they were right behind him.

At which point whoever had been speaking realized that Cambria was  _ not _ ‘Papy’.

“WHO -”

  
Cambria made a break for it, slamming the door open and running out into the yard, not taking in a single breath as he booked it.

“WAIT!!” The voice from before called out, decently far away. Feeling as though he was at least a little safer than before, Cambria chanced a glance behind him to see what his assailant looked like and was shocked by the sight of… another skeleton?

He was shorter than Cambria, by a head or so, and quite stocky. For a skeleton, anyways. His bones were thick, and his skull was large and he had especially large and round eye sockets. His grin, though stretched wide, was strained as he  _ lightly jogged _ to catch up.

Cambria snapped his skull back around and ran harder.

“WHO,” The skeleton still chasing Cambria huffed out, “WHO ARE YOU??”

“Who the hell are  _ you _ ?!” Cambria shouted back.

“Hello!!” You called to the other skeleton from over Cambria’s shoulder.

“!! Don’t talk to him!!” Cambria exclaimed, giving you a bewildered look.

“Why not? He’s a skeleton, too.”

“Because!! He kidnapped us!”

“I DID NO SUCH THING!!!”

“Then why the hell were we in your fucking basement, then?? Checkmate, fucker!”

“YOUR LANGUAGE IS ABHORRENT!! THERE IS A CHILD PRESENT!!”

“Shut up!”

Cambria glanced behind him again and saw the skeleton still jogging - then suddenly stop and thrust a hand in front of him. Confused, Cambria looked back forward to see a giant wall of orange bones blocking his path.

“Fucking fuck fuck!” He tried to slow, but found himself instead tumbling through the wall of bones onto the ground - uninjured? He had rolled over onto his back during the fall so you wouldn’t get hurt, and saw that you, too, were uninjured.

Cambria breathed out a sigh of relief, holding you close. He didn’t know  _ how _ the hell the other skeleton had done that - Cambria himself had been practicing for years and only ever made small bone projectiles, and even then they were  _ normal _ . Not orange and non-damaging.

The other skeleton approached, standing over Cambria, grin still in place. Cambria groaned, trying to keep you to his chest so you wouldn’t squirm out of his hold again.

“SO? MIND TELLING ME HOW YOU ENDED UP IN MY BASEMENT?”

Like the oblivious thing you were, you popped up and waved, despite Cambria’s efforts.

“Hi!! I’m Y/n!”

Of course. Cambria loved you, but sometimes he swore you were the reason he didn’t have any hair. Not. Y’know, because he was a skeleton.

You always seemed to get a kick out of that joke.

“Stranger danger…” Cambria groaned, “Stranger danger, Chippy.”


	2. so you find yourself in an alternate universe

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> i'm garbage who reuses tittles.

“So you’re saying that we got here via timeline hopping machine?”

“yup.”

“And there’s no way back because the machine is busted?”

“mmmhm.”

“And everybody in this room is an alternate version of you and your brother?”

“you got it.”

“So how in the fresh hell did _ we _ end up here?”

“that’s the part we’re still tryin’ to figure out,” The skeleton in front of Cambria sighed, slumping further into the couch.

Currently, Cambria was sat on an adjacent couch in the huge ass living room of a huge ass mansion where different versions of the same two guys were living. All of which were seated or standing around the room with different expressions on their skulls.

It was easy to see how each might have been a pair of the same two brothers - one tall, lanky one and another shorter, stocky one. There were three pairs, including the original, in the room right now.

The original Sans, or just ‘Sans’, was smaller than Cambria but taller than the one who’d chased him around the house. He was dressed in clothing akin to pajamas - rumbled white t-shirt, basketball shorts and pink slippers.

His brother, who also got to keep his name, Papyrus, was the complete opposite - loud, enthusiastic, polite and dressed in some sort of souped up jog outfit - complete with tie die crop top and legwarmers. Also. Very. Very. Tall. Like, almost eight feet tall or something.

Slightly taller than Papyrus was Slim - a supervillain-esque version of him. He looked _ exactly _ like Papyrus (probably due to being an alternate version of the man), except with sharp teeth, cheekbones and three gouges in his left eye socket. Slim seemed to be still dressed in pajamas, like the majority of the household - plain red pj bottoms and a black t. He was leaning against the arm of the couch Sans was seated on.

_ His brother _ was Red. Red was, for better or worse, a brick house. Not only was he the tallest ‘Sans’ - only a few inches shorter than Cambria, but much, much wider. Like his brother, Red’s teeth were sharp, although his more resembled shark teeth. Among the other deadly looking fangs, though, was a golden replacement. He dressed exactly like Sans but with a few differences in coloration, standing beside his brother.

You _ might _ think there was a pattern here, now, wouldn’t you? You might think, ‘oh, I get it! Tall loud guy and short lazy guy! Makes sense!’, right?

Wrong.

Because then you got to the last set of brothers, who were like all the others, just _ completely swapped around _. Short Guy, Blue, was energetic and loud. Tall Guy, (although just a few inches taller than Cambria, really) Stretch, was lazy and appropriately dead inside.

Blue was also dressed in exercise clothes - blue athletic shorts and a black tank top. He was sitting a few feet away from Cambria on the same couch - on the same side you were tucked under his arm.

… He kept making amusing faces at you, making you laugh, which kind of irked Cambria. He almost wanted to remind you ‘Stranger Danger’ again.

Stretch was wearing track pants and an orange hoodie with an unlit cigarette between his flat teeth, eyeing Cambria like he was the dirt under his feet. (he’s seen that look at least a thousand times before, sorry, buddy, you’re going to have to try harder to intimidate him)

“So…” Cambria cleared his throat, trying to ignore the stares of the others, “what are we supposed to do in the meantime, while you’re ‘figuring it out’?”

“WE HAVE AN EXTRA GUEST ROOM!” Papyrus offered politely.

“Here?” It came out before Cambria could stop it - he didn’t _ want _ to sound like he’d rather be anywhere but with these skeletons, but the trepidation from being in an apparent _ foreign _ universe with a bunch of strangers he didn’t know didn’t enthuse him about the situation.

“aww, cheer up, bud, we jus’ wanna keep an,” Red snickered as he delivered the next line, “_ eye socket _ on ya!”

Cambria grimaced in disgust, along with, from what he could see, Slim and Papyrus.

“WOW! I’M SO GLAD YOU DECIDED TO SHARE YOUR UNIQUE HUMOR WITH OUR GUESTS, RED!” Blue said through gritted teeth.

Slim rolled his eye lights.

“Uniquely Disgusting, Perhaps.”

“U-um, I, I think….” You started to talk, only to squeak and hide your face in Cambria’s side when all eye lights in the room turned to you. “Never mind!”

“It’s okay, Chippy,” Cambria coaxed gently, “what did you want to say?”

“I, um, um, I, um, ummmmm…” You tugged on Cambria’s sleeve and whispered into his acoustic meatus.

He groaned.

“Noooo, Chippy, don’t make me say it.”

You giggled and pulled on his sleeve again.

“Fine.” Cambria turned to the room reluctantly. “She wanted to compliment your _ funny bone _, Red.”

He was only slightly playing up his annoyance. He really didn’t like the idea of his sister talking to that weirdo. One could say he’s being paranoid, but his experience in life thus far has taught him to be ‘safe rather than sorry’. And Cambria had been sorry a great many times for trusting shady people.

“WHY????” Papyrus bemoaned, “ALREADY, RED? HOW COULD YOU BE SO CRUEL AS TO INFECT _ A CHILD _ WITH YOUR TERRIBLE JOKES??”

Red simply laughed, nearly falling over, “heheh, thanks, sweetheart!”

“Don’t Encourage The Dolt…” Slim growled, pinching his nasal ridge.

“c’mon, slim, don’t be so _ sternum _!” Sans chuckled, hiding his laughing face behind a hand.

“I CAN’T WORK IN THESE CONDITIONS!” Papyrus wailed, covering his face dramatically.

Meanwhile, Blue sat perfectly still on the couch, grin tense as he stared ahead. His gaze was empty. Small ‘_ this is fine’ _s were leaving his barely parted teeth. Across the room, Stretch was barely managing to conceal his own laughter.

Sans was the first to calm, taking a few breaths before he spoke. “heheh, as red was sayin’ we got an empty room upstairs. ‘s’all good if you wanna move out eventually, but you’ll need an id first. lucky for you, queen tori and king gori got a good system for gettin’ those.”

Cambria nodded, “And rent?”

The shorter skeleton shrugged. “pay it ‘r don’t pay it, it don’t really matter t’us. g’s real valuable up here.”

“G?”

“y’know, gold?”

“OF COURSE HE KNOWS!! YOU… YOU DO KNOW WHAT G IS, RIGHT?” Blue asked hesitantly.

“If it stands for gold, then sure I do… I, uh, just don’t understand it’s relevance to this conversation.”

“simple,” Stretch pitched in, “g equals money, and we got a whole lota g.”

“Okay???” Were they just trying to brag about being rich??

“It Means We Have Expenses Covered.” Slim explained. “No Offense, But You Don’t Look Like The Type To Have A Lot In Your Inventory.”

Cambria really _ would _ like to take offense, but he was right. Not only did he _ look _ like garbage in his old band shirt, giant ripped, stained hoodie and sweatpants, but he wasn’t exactly pimping with a job in retail and an apartment the size of a shoe box.

“I-I can get a job here, right? Once I get an ID?.”

“ABSOLUTELY!!” Papyrus beamed, “THERE’S PLENTY OF OPPORTUNITIES IN NEW NEW HOME!”

Cambria could only assume New New Home was a town or something.

“Okay. And, um, about my sister?”

“SHE CAN STAY TOO!” Papyrus assured Cambria - a look at Sans did the exact opposite, though, he looked slightly tense.

What, did he think Cambria was going to ditch his sister for a place at this mansion full of unfamiliar skeletons? Of course not.

... Maybe, a few years ago, the answer would have been different.

“WE DON’T HAVE ANY EXTRA ROOMS BESIDES THE ONE, THOUGH…” Blue fretted.

“We can share, I don’t mind. I kinda want to keep her in my sight here, anyways.”

“LIKE A… SLEEPOVER???” Papyrus gasped, gloved hands flying to his cheekbones. “WHAT AN EXCELLENT IDEA!”

“Yeah, no. No sleepovers.” Cambria vetoed the idea instantly, not liking the thought of having his little sister sleep in the same room as a bunch of adult strangers. He didn’t even really like the idea of _ living _ with them at all - there was no way he could protect you against six other full grown skeleton monsters, even despite the LV he’d racked up in his criminal years.

Papyrus looked rather put out, but the other skeletons thankfully weren’t raising a fuss about it.

“And, uh, about schooling?”

“tori’s got a pretty good monster-human public school in new new home, but, eh, the kid’ll need to be a citizen to attend.” Sans told him.

“Okay,” Cambria breathed, “okay, we can do that, right? How do we do that?”

“IT’S VERY EASY, ACTUALLY! AS SOON AS YOU’RE A CITIZEN, SHE BECOMES ONE (SINCE YOU’RE HER LEGAL GUARDIAN) YOU’LL NEED TO GET A MONSTER ID FROM THE EMBASSY FIRST, WHICH IS AS SIMPLE AS FILLING OUT A FEW FORMS AND TAKING A PICTURE (PLUS A FEW WEEKS OF HUMAN-CULTURE TRAINING),”

“First? I get the ID and I’m good, right?”

“WELL… NO…” Papyrus wrung his gloved hands, looking off to the side nervously.

“What He Means To Say Is, That Without Entering The Registry Or Without The Possession Of A Surface Clearance Card, You’re Only Worth The Dust You’re Made Of To The Government.”

“Registry?? Clearance card? I was literally born in this country - or at least I think I was, we’re still in Ebott, right?”

Cambria received a nod from the surrounding skeletons. “What the fuck?? I get being from another universe, but they don’t even know that?? Why the hell do I need to enter a fucking registry system? That’s, like… super racist or something.”

“SPECIAL EXCEPTION FOR MONSTERS.” Blue supplied. “SINCE… YOU KNOW… THE WHOLE MAGIC THING… AND THE UNDERGROUND”

“No?? What is that?? Mob activity?? Underground??”

“He Means Being Trapped In The Underground For Generations, Idiot.”

“I don’t remember that.” Cambria frantically looked around the room, trying to discern if the others were pulling a joke. They… weren’t.

“Dude, you were _ trapped underground _ here?”

“and everywhere else,” Stretch muttered, leveling another piercing glare at Cambria, “except for where you’re from, i’m guessing?”

“I-I guess. I’ve never been underground in my life except for a subway. Did you guys live like mole people or something? Why didn’t you just dig up?”

“magical barrier.” Red stated.

“Who the hell would set a magical barrier just to trap themselves underground for generations?”

“... ERM…. THE HUMANS TRAPPED US? WITH MAGIC?” Blue seemed very unsure of himself as he explained what ‘should have’ been very obvious.

“That’s impossible,” Cambria automatically responded, “humans don’t have magic.”

“guess your timeline is quite a bit different, huh?” Sans observed.

“That still doesn’t answer my question about why I need to enter a registry, or why a monster ID isn’t enough.”

“WITHOUT ENTERING THE REGISTRY, YOU CAN’T GET SURFACE CLEARANCE, AND WITHOUT SURFACE CLEARANCE, MONSTERS CAN’T LEGALLY USE HUMAN GOVERNMENT FACILITIES OR BANKS, AND LAW ENFORCEMENT ISN’T REQUIRED TO… EH... “

“Keep You From Being Murdered In Your Home.” Slim finished for Papyrus.

“STEP IN DURING ALTERCATIONS WITH HUMANS.” Papyrus corrected.

All things considered, Cambria thought he took the news pretty well. It was a little insane to him - discrimination like this hadn’t been heard of for hundreds of years, but he guessed the whole ‘humans with magic trapped us underground for hundreds of years’ really threw off the timeline he was used to.

“whelp. guess we better get you two set up, huh?”

Sans was apparently great at defusing tense situations. (not).

“Sure, I mean, yeah, burning daylight and all that.” Cambria ran a skeletal hand over his skull and moved to stand. “Is it too much to ask to have somebody show us the room?”

“I’D BE GLAD TO!” Papyrus offered, “I CAN EVEN ARRANGE GETTING SOME CLOTHES FOR THE TWO OF YOU! I KNOW TORIEL HELD ONTO FRISK’S OLD CLOTHES… AND YOU SEEM TO BE ABOUT STRETCH’S SIZE!”

The skeleton in question huffed and turned to walk up the stairs, “guess i’ll pick a few things out, then.”

Somehow, Cambria didn’t think that skeleton was particularly fond of him. <strike>(was anybody, really? garbage like him didn’t exactly attract great company)</strike>

“Great. That sounds, I mean, it _ is _ great. Really, uh, really great.”

“I’M NOT CALLED THE GREAT PAPYRUS FOR NOTHING!”

“And _ I’m _ Not Sitting Here All Morning When I Have An Important Meeting Today.” Slim bit before turning in the same direction as Stretch to leave.

“Oh! I Almost Forgot About That!” Papyrus gasped. He looked down at his wrist… where there was no watch… “Thanks For Reminding Me! I Do Believe I Have Enough Time To Drop By Toriel’s First… We Can Carpool!” He then took out his phone and started to head to the kitchen.

“yeh, imma dip too. ‘s’bout three hours too early fer me.” Then, Red, too, was gone - one moment he was there, the next he wasn’t.

“Is that.. Normal?” He was, of course, referring to the stout skeleton _ completely just disappearing out of nowhere _.

Cambria only received a shrug from the remaining skeletons.

“normal for us, at least. and, uh, hey? mind comin’ up to the study with me for a quick chat?” Sans nodded his head to where Cambria assumed the staircase was.

“Yeah, that’s cool. Mind if I take my sis with?”

Sans’ eye lights constricted slightly, his focus seeming to lapse for a second before he regained himself. “heh, if ya don’t mind, i’d rather you not.”

Well if that wasn’t suspicious…

“I’m not sure if I’m comfortable leaving my baby sister alone in an unfamiliar place.” by now, Papyrus had already moved into another room whilst taking on the phone, leaving both Cambria and you with only Sans and Blue in the living room.

Annoyingly, Blue perked up.

“NO PROBLEM, I’LL WATCH HER!”

Even more annoyingly, you only seemed to excite at that. Apparently a few funny faces and your loyalty was bought. Forget the brother that’s been fighting for custody since it was legal, let’s go with the skeleton from another universe who blew a raspberry at you. Sure.

“see? blue’s got it. he’s got plenty of experience, too, raised his own bro. did a pretty good job, too, the kid don’t even got a scratch on him, eh?”

Cambria didn’t know if that was an intentional dig, seeing as your own scars were obviously displayed on your face, but it irked him all the same. He wanted to refuse the offer and spit on this jerk skeleton’s face, but that wasn’t really an option, so he sucked it up and stood.

“Glad to hear it…”

He waited for Sans to stand, and when he did, the smaller skeleton grabbed Cambria’s arm and teleported them to an unfamiliar room - presumably the study.

Then, Cambria was pinned against the wall with magic, Sans’ empty sockets (when had the lights gone out?) staring a hole through him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> chapter number 2... we're off to a good start...
> 
> not sure if the skellies have the same opinion.... >:3
> 
> what?? is this???
> 
> [a wild tumblr blog appears????](https://beanniebenn.tumblr.com)


	3. wherein it is revealed that cam might not be the best person

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the title says it all

Blue was… fun.

It was a bit odd to you to have someone’s attention solely focused on you (it always was, no matter how many times you’d met with Ms. Mary or any other adult who wanted to ‘help’ you), but also kind of nice. There weren’t any other kids who were crying or whining or hungry or thirsty or any of the other things that took precedence over a single lonely kid.

Of course, you had to be wary - Cambria kept reminding you about ‘Stranger Danger’, but you didn’t think stranger danger applied to when you were teleported to a new universe. Or maybe it applied even more so.

Either way, Blue was nice and fun and he always gave you all of his attention. Even when he was talking to your brother, he made funny faces which were - admittedly - pretty funny. Even if you were too old for that sort of thing.

It was kind of sort of like Ms. Mary whenever she wanted to ask you about Cam. Except Ms. Mary was serious and hard, while Blue was very… soft. He had a nice deep voice that rose and fell like the ocean, but without the rage and only the passion.

Now, though, that Cambria was talking with the other one - what was his name? You were kind of bad with ‘S’ names… Anyways, now that Cambria was gone, _ all _ of Blue’s attention was on you, and you felt a little spoiled.

“FAVORITE COLOR?” He asked. A while ago, he’d gotten out some papers and drawing stuff like pencils and crayons and colored pencils so the two of you could draw. Right now you were drawing a picture of Cambria and you.

Drawing skeletons was… difficult, though.

“Hmmm…. Lime…” you replied. Ms. Mary also asked you a lot of questions like those when you first met.

“THAT’S SPECIFIC. ANY REASON WHY?”

You grinned, unknowingly showing off the chip in your front tooth. “That’s the color of my brother’s magic! He’s super cool!”

And cool didn’t even start it. He’s made a lot of mistakes… that’s what your ‘social worker’, Ms. Mary, said when you asked why he had to leave and why you had to move in with some other families. You couldn’t think of a single thing bad about your brother, though, except that he couldn’t spend all of his time with you!

But he still visits you. He takes off of work and everything so the two of you can spend the entire day together.

“He’s like, very strong, and also nice! And tall, too! He always gives me piggy back rides!”

Blue hummed, doodling something of his own on a piece of paper.

Quieter, you continued to speak, “He said that one day when he’s done with his pah-role, he’s gonna buy us a new place to live. And he said no more dust!”

Blue froze for a moment - you almost didn’t notice, except you were kind of good at seeing those things. He went back to normal, though, and hummed again… you liked his voice. 

“THAT’S GOOD! A CLEAN HOME IS A HAPPY HOME!”

“Yeah, I didn’t like where we lived before ‘cause it was smelly and also sometimes the water was all brown and also he forgot to pay the ‘lectricity bill one time, and it got really cold and I couldn’t watch TV for, like a week.”

“I-IS THAT SO…?”

“Yeah! And his friends were all loud and gross and smelly…” You got quieter in a conspiratorial manner, “did you know that humans can get really gross and sweaty and smelly if they don’t shower??”

“GENERALLY A HUMAN RULE OF HYGIENE, I AM AWARE.”

“Yucky!” You giggled, “But, then, Ms. Mary came and said that we were neg-neg-neg-li-gent and I had to stay somewhere else. Ms. Mary… I don’t think she likes my brother.”

“YEAH?” You hadn’t noticed that Blue’s responses were getting shorter, you just continued to talk.

“So now I stay with a ‘foster family’ they’re like my temporary family, Cambria said. Now I got two parents and even a sister! We’re like, best friends.”

“DO YOU REMEMBER… DO YOU REMEMBER WHO STAYED WITH YOU AND CAMBRIA BEFORE?”

“Yep! My grandma! She was also super cool! But also super old, so now Cambria said she had to go to a place with a bunch of other old humans ‘cause they’re so old! He said we can’t visit, though, since you gotta be old to go there. Kind of like an old people vacation!”

“I SEE… HOW LONG AGO DID SHE GO ON… VACATION?”

“Like, when I was six. That was a little after I had to leave.”

“THAT DOESN’T SOUND FUN.”

You shrugged. It always made you feel a little bad that your grandma never even said goodbye before she left, but you guess it’s okay as long as she’s having fun. You still had Cambria, anyways.

“It was okay, I guess. They made me throw away all of my old clothes and bought me new ones ‘cause they were dirty. I got my own bed now, though, and, um…” You glanced up, nervous. You didn’t know if you should tell Blue. Ms. Mary hadn’t _ looked _ happy when you’d told her, but she said she was happy that you did.

Quietly, even more quiet than before, you continued, “they make me feel safe because they walk me to school and don’t leave me at home alone at night… and they make me dinner, an’, um, an’ other stuff too…”

“WELL… WE EAT DINNER EVERY NIGHT HERE!”

You grinned brightly - this was great! You knew Cambria was supposed to visit today, but you only expected to spend a few hours together, like normal. Now, you get to stay in a huge house with him and eat dinner every night!

You hoped your parents and sister and Ms. Mary didn’t get worried… You were having the best time of your life!

When Cambria came back, you didn’t notice how Blue left to talk quietly with Mr. Papyrus, instead, you showed off the picture you’d drawn.

He loved it.

He always loves the drawings you make of the two of you together.

So those are the only ones you draw.

=========

“What the fuck, dude?!?” Cambria nearly yelled, glaring at Sans. This asshole! He knew he couldn’t trust these shady motherfuckers! Nobody gets rich as hell without dealing in _ some _ illegal and violent shit!

“ t e l l m e .” Sans closed his eyes, and when he opened them, a flaring blue and yellow ring of fire was lit in his left eye socket.

“ h o w m a n y ? “

“How many what, dude? Gonna have to be a bit more specific!” <strike>(cam had a feeling that he knew very well what sans was talking about)</strike>

“ h o w m a n y d i d y o u k i l l ?”

Cambria’s magic nearly stopped circulating. (he was right.)

“How did you know?” He asked shakily.

“let’s just say i could see your sins crawling on your back, heh. lv six. how many did it take to get there?”

“Why should I tell _ you _, asshole? I didn’t even tell my delta-damned lawyer!” The only response Cambria received was the magic tightening, Sans’ empty sockets burning into him.

Cambria nearly spat at him, but relented after a minute of the unnerving stare. “You want the fucking truth? How’s’about it, huh? What would you say if I told you it was zero, _ zilch, nada _? What then?”

“ l i a r .” Sans’ magic gripped Cambria tighter, and the flash of worry that ran through him was purely for you. He had to be strong.

“Nope, I’m sure you could tell if I was. So go ahead, rough me up. What else can you take? I already lost my sister to the state and said goodbye to whatever crap apartment we were living in. Lost my peace of mind when I decided to fuck up my SOUL and take that first hit. Lost my future, too.”

And thus commenced the most intense staring contest Cambria had ever partaken in - he was scared of what Sans would do if he backed down, although he tried not to show it.

Then, it all stopped. The magic released him, allowing Cambria to fall to the ground on shaky legs, and Sans shut his eyes. His breathing was heavy for a few moments.

“heh. okay. you wouldn’t be the first in this house to have lv. but.”

Sans opened his sockets, and they were once again empty. Cambria held eye contact, still, though, not allowing his shield to drop and show how terrified he really was.

“ h u r t m y b r o t h e r o r a n y b o d y e l s e i n t h i s h o u s e a n d y o u ‘ l l b e d e a d w h e r e y o u s t a n d . “

Another blink and Sans was back to normal, looking for anything like a short, lazy, punny skeleton who wore pajamas all the time and showered maybe once a week.

“got that?”

“Loud and clear, buddy,” Cambria sneered, “But know that it goes both ways. My sister is the best thing that happened to my life, my universe, and to _ this _ universe, too.”

“heh, trust me, i get it. my bro’s the coolest around.”

“What, got something against cute little girls, then? You didn’t seem so happy about letting her stay here.”

“eh, guess you could say i’ve had some bad experiences with kids from hell. or, _ a _kid from hell.”

There was a moment where they just looked at each other. Two monsters with heavy burdens on their SOULs. Who’ve seen too much, _ done _ too much. Two hypocrites. Two promise-breakers.

“... Fair enough.”

Reluctantly, Cambria followed Sans back downstairs, where you were drawing something. You brightened instantly, and turned it around to show him.

A picture of the two of you holding hands.

_ Stars _. His SOUL once again almost melted - you really were too good for him or this shitty world, but hell if he wasn’t going to try and make himself worth your time.

A tiny part inside of him felt more guilty than ever, since he knew that _ you _ knew that he was a greedy bastard who ate up every bit of love he got and gave nothing back. He was a selfish monster who took and took and _ took _.

And that part wondered if you thought that the only way you could get him to appreciate you was to draw and draw endlessly more things that would never happen.

But hey. At least your skeleton drawings got better each time.

“Maybe we should ask if we can put it on the fridge, huh?”

Your rib cage puffed proudly at that. It made him remember that one scar you had. Yes, _ another scar _.

You’d tried to replicate some cartoon skeleton from a commercial. It would have been cute if it didn’t involve lots of panicked screaming from his grandma as you passed out in a pool of your own marrow.

=========

Papyrus listened to what Blue had to say, skull paling the further he went along in the story.

Blue finished nervously, glancing back at the living room where you were sat down next to your brother, looking over the picture you’d drawn.

“DO YOU… Erm, Do You Think He’s Safe For Her To Be Around?” The shorter skeleton asked. He kept thinking about how you’d revealed Cambria as a criminal on parole. And the way you said ‘dust’... he didn’t think you meant the kind that gathers naturally.

“I’m Sure He’s Fine… Sans Has Undoubtedly Seen His Stats By Now, Anyways. He Wouldn’t Let A Child Stay Around Someone Dangerous… I Hope…”

Blue made a distressed noise.

“I Don’t Like The Idea Of Having A Child Around Some Of The… Others… In This House. Or. Around The House.”

Papyrus waved Blue’s concerns away, “Slim And Red Know Things Aren’t Like That Anymore - Plus, It Was Illegal To Harm Kids, Even Where They’re From. As For Axe and Crooks… Well… They’re Fairly Stable Now.”

…

“Mr. Blue, Mr. Blue!!” You skidded into the kitchen in your socks - having taken off your shoes at some point. Blue would scold you about going around in only socks, but you were a kid, and he wasn’t your parent.

“JUST BLUE WILL DO, CHIP-MUNK!” 

“‘Kay, Mr. Just Blue, can I put this up on the fridge?”

You held up the image you’d been working on - a picture of two skeletons, you and your brother, by the looks of the colors you’d used, holding hands. He had to admit that the figures were well practiced for your age.

Snickering at your joke, Blue agreed, “SURE! LET ME GET A MAGNANT!”

Gently, Blue took the picture from you and attached it to the front of the fridge, next to the list of rules. He had to admit that it was nice not to be the shortest, anymore. To be looked up to metaphorically and literally.

“RULES!!!” You read out, looking over at the heavily highlighted paper.

“OH - THANKS FOR REMINDING ME, CHIP-MUNK. CAN YOU GET YOUR BROTHER OVER HERE?”

“Sir yes sir!” You sprinted to the living room, where you latched onto your brother and dragged him into the kitchen. Cambria was laughing at you, leaning down slightly to allow you better access.

“I got him!” You exclaimed.

“YOU CERTAINLY DID!” Papyrus laughed.

“”Kay,” Cambria breathed after another round of chuckles, “Chippy said something about rules?”

“NOTHING EXTREME! JUST FOUR EASY ONES. NUMBER ONE IS, OBVIOUSLY, NO…” Blue glanced at you, then at the paper (which said no killing, but that was a bit too graphic for a child, don’t you think?), then back to you. “ERM. NO GETTING IN FIGHTS. ALL SPARRING IS OUTDOORS.”

“NEXT IS NO DESTROYING OTHER PEOPLE’S PROPERTY. THREE IS AN EXTENSION OF RULE TWO - NO SETTING THE HOUSE ON FIRE!”

“You hear that, Chip?” Cambra poked at you.

“I _ never _ set the house on fire before!” You pouted.

Blue had to stifle a small laugh as he continued. “EXCEPTION TO RULE TWO IS IF…” Blue looked at you again, “ERM… YOU CAN READ THAT ONE BY YOURSELF, I’M ASSUMING?”

Then…

“AND ALSO RULE NUMBER FOUR. BASICALLY: KEEP THE HOUSE KID FRIENDLY!”

“I’m a friendly kid!” You cheered.

“I LIKE YOUR PASSION!” Papyrus told you with a wink, “BUT AS FUN AS THIS IS, I MUST PICK UP THOSE CLOTHES FROM QUEEN TORIEL.”

“‘Kay, bye bye, Mr. ‘Pyrus!” You waved happily as he headed out the door to the outside garage. For some reason the skeletons here had two garages. You weren’t allowed in the ‘inside’ one because apparently it had dangerous stuff like tools.

You were Okay with not going in there.

“SINCE YOUR BACK FROM YOUR CHAT, WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE YOUR ROOM?”

You were drawn back to Blue by his offer, as was Cambria, who was looking over the list. He looked kind of sad.

“Bubba?” 

He shook his skull and looked down at you, smiling gently.

“Hey, sure. Don’t have anything else to do.”

Cheerfully, you grabbed his hand and pulled him to where Blue was walking. He followed you easily, and you couldn’t help but get a good feeling about this house!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> couple of notes: my laptop shit the bed and i will not be able to write for a lil until its good....
> 
> on a brighter note!!! i pre-wrote a few chapters of stuff.... just not for it's all bones, baby.... everything else, yes! so... let's just see how long this lasts.... i'm sure i'll be good in a few weeks...
> 
> ::DD
> 
> here's my tumblr!!!! [@beanniebenn](https://beanniebenn.tumblr.com)
> 
> also, if you'd like to know The Fridge Rules, they're in my main sans/reader papyrus/reader fic, it's all bones, baby ^^


	4. for shame.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> basically cam fucks up and shall continue to fuck up so, really, don't get your hopes up.

I t was as you walked through it that you realized just  _ how big _ this house was. You went up one set of stairs… to see one  _ long  _ hallway with lots of doors, which you figured were bedrooms, and another in the opposite direction that lead to a space you guessed was the office.

Then… up another set of stairs.

Wow… you’ve never been in such a big house! Lots of buildings, but not like this. You even saw what looked like a forest outside the windows downstairs!

You kind of felt like you were in a fairy tale… like Snow White and the Seven Dwarves! There were even seven other skeletons (your brother included)! That basically made you Snow White, which meant that you were  _ basically _ a princess.

Which also meant… the others were the dwarves!

“Hey…” You pulled Cambria’s sleeve.

“What is it, Chippy?”

“Dopey.”

…

“What?”

“Your new name! Dopey! Like in Snow White! And  _ I’m _ the princess!”

…

“...” He was silent for a few moments which kind of worried you, but it was worth it when his face screwed up into confusion. 

“Why am  _ I _ Dopey??”

“‘Cuz you’re a dope.” You said smugly.

“ _ Or _ ,” he tried, “It’s because I  _ am _ dope. Cool. The coolest brother ever.”

“I BELIEVE THAT POSITION IS TAKEN BY YOURS TRULY!” Blue snickered as he flexed muscles he didn’t have… before he stopped, suddenly nervous. “ER…. DON’T TELL PAPYRUS I SAID THAT!”

“And you’re Happy!” You pointed at Blue, grin wide while you laughed.

“MWEH HEH HEH! ACTUALLY, I BELIEVE I WOULD BE A BETTER ‘DOC’, ‘PRINCESS’.”

You were delighted that he’d also seen the movie, and was even helping you with nicknames!

“Why’s that?” Cambria asked, giving Blue a mean look. Hmmm… Cambria didn’t seem to like Blue much, from what you could tell. He especially didn’t like Blue whenever he interrupted you and Cambria.

“OBVIOUSLY BECAUSE HE’S THE SMARTEST! A TRULY FITTING POSITION FOR A SKELETON OF STATURE SUCH AS MYSELF!” Again with the flexing. Blue was super funny! You laughed again.

… Cambria didn’t laugh.

“What makes you so sure you’re the smartest?”... You… you didn’t like how loud Cambria was getting.

It made Blue’s sockets narrow.

You felt the tense energy in the air and were… scared.

What was more scary to you, though, was that you were  _ still _ scared, even though Cambria was here, even though he was your brother, even though he promised to protect you…  _ you were scared of him right now, and you didn’t like it, why was he doing this, he said he’d stop, he said no more fights, no more dust, no more weird friends or odd hours or bad smells -  _

“I’M SORRY! SHOULD WE COMPARE PHDS?”

Your brother sputtered, tense air momentarily breaking and it felt  _ so good, you weren’t scared, he was safe, Cambria was safe again, you didn’t need to be scared of him -  _

“P-PhD?”

“YES. WOULD YOU LIKE TO COMPARE THEM?”

“I’m… I’m good.”

“OH, NO! I DON’T MIND AT ALL, LET’S DISCUSS OUR QUALIFICATIONS TOGETHER, SINCE YOU SEEM TO BE SO KEEN - “

“I  _ said _ I’m good!” Cambria was starting to get angry again...

“REALLY?”

“Shut up! Stop it! You know  _ damn well _ that I don’t have a fucking Phd, so fucking drop it, alright!”

Blue’s narrow sockets stared your brother down for awhile before he looked away, and that same… fake smile (the one that the other guy who had talked to Cambria had had) stretched over his skull.

“I SUPPOSE IT WAS RATHER RUDE OF ME TO GO THAT FAR - I APOLOGIZE. IT MUST BE RATHER HARD TO ENTER SUCH A PROGRAM,” he looked back at Cambria, sockets empty.

… You didn’t like that.

“ESPECIALLY AS A CONVICTED FELON.”

… 

“I’m  _ done _ .” Cambria seethed, stomping away. In the direction of the downstairs… you heard a slammed door not a minute later.

…

..

.

He……………….. he  _ left you _ .

What did you do? All you’d wanted was to give some nicknames! You didn’t know he’d get angry!

“OH… OH NO!! OH NO NO No No…. Please Don’t Cry, I’m Sorry, I’m Sorry…”

You didn’t even realize that purple tears had been falling from your eye sockets until Blue was on his knees in front of you, using his bandana to wipe them away. Your nose felt clogged with magic, your skull was  _ full _ of it, there was so much pressure. Your magic had accumulated in accordance with your sadness, and now it was dripping out of every possible exit on your face.

You made a few quiet crying noises, much to your chargain. You didn’t  _ want _ to be loud, you didn’t  _ want _ to be annoying! You couldn’t help that you were crying!

“I’m, I’m SoOoRRy!!” You cried, wiping your face with your sleeves.

“There’s Nothing For You To Be Sorry For, Princess, It’s All Fine! See! I’m Happy, Like The Dwarf! See?” He smiled widely, but you could see the crease between his sockets, “See??”

“NoOoooOOo!” It was more of a long, low sob than a word, but it got the message across. “You’re DoooOoOoc!”

“Alright,” He said, “Alright, I’m Doc. All Good, Right?”

You nodded, sniffling. It wasn’t a few more seconds before you started crying again, though, and loudly.

“NoOooOoOO!! Caaammm left! I Wanna go HoooOOoome!”

“SHHHHH. Shhhh… Princess… You Can’t Go ‘Home’ Right Now, But I Can Take You To Your Room? You Can Take A Nap?”

You could tell the crying was making Blue uncomfortable, so you tried to reign it in. It was difficult,  _ so _ difficult, because you were afraid of the what-ifs that were going through your mind.

What if Cambria left you for good?   
  


What if he got hurt while he was out there?

What if somebody hurt  _ you _ while he was gone?

You nodded your head, allowing yourself to be picked up so he could carry you up the stairs.

“I’m Sure Your Brother Will Be Back Soon - Maybe Even By The Time You Wake Up!” You nodded your head again and wiped at your eye sockets with the sleeves of your sweater.

“R-Really?”

“Mhm, I… I Promise…”

Blue sat you down on the bed of the small room.

“NOW! GET SOME REST, AND COME DOWN WHEN YOU’RE READY! DEPENDING ON WHAT TIME IT IS, SLIM, PAPYRUS AND I MIGHT BE AT A MEETING. I… Uh… I’M SURE YOUR BROTHER WILL BE BACK BY THAT TIME, HOWEVER!”

The bed was soft, and the blankets blessedly cool against your heated bones, so you shuffled around until you were comfortable. Blue patted your arm a few times before quietly bidding you goodbye, treading to the door lightly and leaving.

You didn’t see Blue’s expression harden, or the way he pinched his nasal bridge, giving an irritated look towards the stairs.

==========

  
  


Cambria was  _ angry _ . That was all he could articulate.

_ Fucking! Stupid skeletons, acting like they’re better than me…. _

_ (don’t you remember? They are, you’re a piece of garbage, scum like you doesn’t get to be angry - ) _

He just needs a  _ break. _ Unfortunately, this feeling is all too familiar. It takes him back to days of when he was younger - and  _ you _ , even smaller. Days when his grandmother was just in the other room, when you were so tiny, sitting on the couch or at the table eating whatever bag of junk Cambria had brought home.

_ You weren’t complaining about the food toay, which was good. You were so  _ whiny _ . He never wanted kids. Not if they were like _ you. _ How did his parents put up with this? He bets they were glad they - _

Cambria’s hands itched.

_ He’d needed a break then, too hadn’t he? And his break was right there in his room, wasn’t it? Just a little, just a little and he’d feel better, so much better _ .

_ He didn’t even see you as he brushed past the small hallway to his room, to grab a small baggie that was supposed to be for next week, but who gave a fuck, he could make more later, whenever he was less stressed. _

_ You tried to talk to him as he left, but he just needed a  _ break, _ why couldn’t you see that? The street was so much quieter, nicer. He knew everyone here, they nodded to him as he passed, he didn’t have to talk or listen. _

_ And he was happy until he woke up the next morning under a park bench _ .

Fuck. Cambria needed a break. He couldn’t go back to Alley Dust because he was  _ clean, he was good  _ _ (but mostly because he didn’t know where to get something like that here) _ , but he  _ could _ get a drink, which sounded just about as good  _ (no it didn’t) _ .

But, fuck, he was in the middle of the delta damned  _ woods _ . How the hell was he supposed to get a drink out here? Maybe he should check the cabinets… He’d left the house to put some space between him and that Blue Boy, but right now that didn’t seem so important, as he walked back in.

They’d offered for Cambria to make himself at home, hadn’t they?

_ Well, maybe not, but it seems like something that tall, loud, orange one would say anyways, and while he probably wasn’t talking about their liquor, did it really matter right now? _

It was just as Cambria was checking the cabinets above the fridge that he was startled by the skeleton in question walking back in through the inside garage.

…

A few moments passed.

“DID… YOU NEED HELP WITH SOMETHING…. CAMBRIA?”

_ Shit, caught _ .

“Ubm, oh, ahhh…. No?”

_ So smooth. _

“REALLY….” Papyrus gave Cambria a scrutinizing look. “ARE YOU HUNGRY? WE HAVE LEFTOVERS IN THE FRIDGE?”

“No, no, really, I’m, um, I’m good…” What was he even still doing here?? Didn’t he say he was leaving, like, five minutes ago??

“OKAY… I… FORGOT A FEW PAPERS… EXCUSE ME…”

Cambria watched lamely as Papyrus grabbed a few documents from the counter and turned to leave once again.

_ Fuck this was his chance -  _

“Hey, uh, actuuuuallllyyyy….”  _ Stars _ , could he be anymore awkward or obvious?

“... YES?”

“My, um, my sister - “ Cambria internally cringed.  _ Great. Using your baby sister as an excuse _ . “She likes this…”  _ Quick, think of something believable! _ “Vitamin… gummy… she has one every night before she brushes her teeth. I know… that it would help her… acclimate… if she could have it here, too.”

“OH? DID YOU WANT ME TO PICK IT UP WHILE I’M OUT?”

“I, was, um, thinking…  _ I _ could pick it up? You know, because I know what type she likes, and all.”

“DON’T YOU… WANT TO STAY HERE WITH HER?”

_ Fuck. _

“Blue’s watching her right now. He’s, uh, a really good guy. I trust him. Chip… uh… Y/n likes him too.”

It wasn’t a complete lie. Blue was obviously a more responsible adult that Cambria, and you seemed to like him, too.

Cambria just didn’t really trust him all that well.

_ Then why was he leaving you with him? He was selfish. He knew Blue would take care of you.  _

“ALRIGHT THEN…. I CAN DROP YOU OFF AT THE NEAREST GROCERY STORE. I’LL GIVE YOU CAB FARE FOR YOUR WAY BACK…” Papyrus grabbed a sticky note from the pad on the fridge and acquired a pen from a random drawer. “HERE’S OUR ADDRESS.”

_ This was working better than Cambria had thought it might _ .

“Hey, thanks, man. You really  _ are _ the Great Papyrus.” Cambria chuckles. His voice is a little forced, but that’s fine.

“O-OF COURSE!!” Papyrus still looks and  _ sounds _ a little unsure about this whole thing, but he’s willing, anyways.

“Yeah. So. Hey, man. I don’t exactly… Ah… Being dropped into another universe wasn’t exactly good for my financial sich. I remember from earlier that you guys are… eh…. Well off, so to say. Can have some money for the purchase, too?”

_ Fuck. no go back. _

Papyrus looked  _ very _ unsure, now. His eye sockets were narrow and he was looking around nervously.

“...O...KAY…. THE GREAT PAPYRUS IS A VERY UNDERSTANDING INDIVIDUAL. WHO. SEES THE BEST IN EVERYBODY. AND IS ALWAYS WILLING TO LEND A HELPING HAND.”

Cambria sighed in relief, his grin coming back.

Papyrus dug around before he took out his wallet, producing a few twenty dollar bills. Cambria’s eye lights lit up.

“Thanks, dude, man, you’re amazing!”

“NYEH.. Heh..Heh… Of Course, Friend… I’ll Give You That Ride Now.”

Cambria happily took the offered money and followed Papyrus to the outside garage.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey, hi, hello!!
> 
> don't have much to say, check out my tumblr if you'd like
> 
> [@beanniebenn](https://beanniebenn.tumblr.com)
> 
> (have a nice day!)


	5. cam finds out about the value of altruism and promptly forgets it

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> blue: big mad
> 
> cam: big mad
> 
> red: confused

When Blue went downstairs to talk to the eldest newer skeleton, he was… angry? No, furious to find that the other had left.

Not only was his demonstration a terrible display for a  _ child _ , but a child who was undergoing a huge shift in living situation and that skeleton, that  _ criminal _ \- 

Breath. Relax.

Blue was not one to  _ judge _ . It really wasn’t his place.

Besides, if he did that, it would make him more self-righteous than anything else. He had to take in the perspective of more than just himself.

It was, however, very difficult when he had no idea where Cambria was coming from. What had made him so angry? Was he simply a criminal, or was there a story behind that? What about the dust you’d mentioned?

There were so many sides to this story to consider, it just…

Blue was a compassionate individual. He really couldn’t help it.

Sometimes, it was beneficial. Other times, like now, it was just a burden. He glanced up at the stairs, thinking about you.

A child.

It’s been… so long… since he’s been around a real skeleton kid. It brought back pleasant memories of when Stretch - Papy - was a small bones. Maybe it was egotistical, but Blue really did think he’d done a bang up job. Despite… Some of Papy’s shortcomings. Like his honey and nicotine addiction.

They were working through those, though! And that’s what big brothers do, right? They help their younger siblings work through things and offer support.

Maybe that’s why Cambria left a bad taste in Blue’s mouth.

Here Blue was… trying his best in a foreign universe… doing well, in fact! Then this kid who was for  _ some reason _ entrusted with the care of an  _ actual child _ was just… doing the exact opposite!

Like he was spitting in Blue’s face!

He had no manners!

Again, though, that didn’t mean that Blue wished him any ill will. He was still your big brother, and you still loved him,  _ needed him _ .

Maybe Cambria just needed a better example.

And… well… Blue was a great example! A model citizen! It’s what he prided himself on, after all.

And, you know what they say - “Lead by example!”

… Blue was going to make Cambria into a better brother, so help him.

++

Driving with Papyrus was extremely awkward. Far more awkward than the exchange in the kitchen. Y’know. The one where Papyrus had caught Cambria trying to raid their alcohol? Yeah. At least the taller skeleton wasn’t aware that was what Cambria was doing.

He felt a little guilty about it, though.

Did he feel guilty about finagling Papyrus out of sixty bucks?

Yes. More than he would like to. Because, at the end of the day, Cambria was still a  _ monster _ , he was still made of  _ compassion _ and  _ love _ and all that other bullshit, and he still had a natural alignment to  _ kindness _ , so he was kind of chronically morally un-fucked in that category.

Was that going to stop him from getting out of this nice skeleton’s nice car, wave to him as he drove away, then turn around and get plastered at the nearest bar  <strike> (and if anybody offered him something out of their coat pocket, who was he to refuse?)? </strike>

No. Not at all.

Cambria knows he’s not a good person, and, quite frankly, he’s fucking tired of pretending he is. Plus, those stupi - jerky fucking skeletons back at the lodge already know he’s a piece of garbage - he’s sees it in the way they look at him, talk to him, hell, one pinned him up against the wall to threaten him and the other blatantly called him a criminal!

… And here he is. Proving them right by conning poor Papyrus out of hard earned money and using it for selfish, selfish reasons.

Fuck. He’s thinking too much.  _ This _ is why he needs something in his system that’s going to fuck him up for at least a few hours.

“ARE YOU OKAY?” The loud voice startles Cambria out of his self-loathing, and he momentarily forgets  _ everything _ .

“Fucking fuck shit damn! What the hell, ahhhh,,,,  _ yes _ ?”

“.....”

Cambria groaned, hitting his skull against the dashboard. “S-Sorry, Papyrus, you startled me. What’s up?”

Papyrus, the good skeleton, the  _ morally upright, kind, helpful _ skeleton, cleared the throat he didn’t have.

“I WAS JUST ASKING IF YOU WERE ALRIGHT? YOU LOOKED… VERY SAD.”

Oh. What a joy. Ten minutes into the drive and already Papyrus is onto him. Cambria’s skull lights up in a soft lime as he scratches at the back of his head, where his skull meets is cerebral vertebrae.

“Y-Yeah, I’m good. Just… It’s just a lot to take in, y’know?”

Papyrus made a low, thoughtful hum, his eye lights trained on the road.

What a responsible driver.

Cambria wouldn’t know. He never got his license or needed to drive.

“I KNOW… THAT YOU HAVE HAD SOME DIFFICULTIES ALREADY, WITH MOVING IN.” The tall skeleton started, “I’M NOT GOING TO JUDGE YOU - I’M NOT MY BROTHER. I’M NOT GOING TO TELL YOU TO NOT HURT MY FAMILY AND FRIENDS OR ELSE YOU WILL SUFFER GREAT PAIN BY MY HAND, EITHER. (EVEN THOUGH YOU WILL. IF YOU DO. WHICH YOU WON’T). I… I’M NOT GOING TO TREAT YOU LIKE A CRIMINAL.”

Cambria wished he could stop hearing right about now.

It was one thing to be called scum and to be spit upon. It was a completely different thing to find someone who wanted to  _ help _ you. It… didn’ feel right. It made something ugly grow in his rib cage, something ugly and hurtful that made him want to lash out at others.

Counter productive, he’s aware, but it’s there all the same.

_ You can’t fix me. Don’t try. It’s pathetic and offensive _ .

“I KNOW THAT STARTING OVER, IN THIS NEW UNIVERSE, IS A BIG CHANGE! AND IT’S A DIFFICULT CHANGE, TOO! I SEE THE OTHER MES AND OTHER MY BROTHERS STRUGGLE EVERY DAY WITH THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN WHAT THEY’RE USED TO AND HOW THINGS ARE HERE.” Yeah, right. Like any of these lodge skeletons would like to compare themselves to a cold-SOULed killer like himself.

“SO. I WANTED TO OFFER THE METAPHORICAL OLIVE BRANCH OF PEACE. I’M ALWAYS HERE IF YOU NEED SOMEONE TO TALK TO, OR… IF YOU GET YOURSELF INTO TROUBLE. I WON’T JUDGE YOU.” Aww… fuck… that was kinda nice.

Cambria made a small and pathetic sound. Kind of wet like he was trying not to cry, which he definitely  _ wasn’t _ , because that’s  _ not _ what he wanted to hear.

“... LOOKS LIKE WE’RE HERE. HAVE A NICE SHOPPING TRIP. YOU HAVE OUR ADDRESS, RIGHT?”

“... Yeah…”

“ERM… MAYBE IT WOULD BE BEST IF YOU HAD MY NUMBER, AS WELL. DO YOU HAVE A PHONE?”

Now that was a question… Cambria fished around in the pockets of his old hoodie - bingo bango! He displayed his flip phone.

… Ah… would it get any service here? Well. Now’s no time for questions.

“GREAT! I’LL JUST PUT MY NUMBER IN REAL QUICK…” Papyrus gracefully plucked the small device out of Cambria’s hand and rapidly plunked some numbers in.

“AND THERE! FEEL FREE TO CONTACT ME WHENEVER!”

“Sure thing, buddy. I’ll see you around.”

“WELL I DEFINITELY HOPE SO! TONIGHT IS LASAGNA NIGHT!”

.. .Cambria has never had lasagna.

“Well… I wouldn’t want to miss that?”   
  


“NOT IF YOU VALUE YOUR FIBIAS!”

And with no other context, Papyrus zoomed off as soon as Cambria had fully exited the car.

Huh.

Cambria shrugged off the ominous statement and flipped his hood over his skull. He learned a long time ago that he passed for human fairly easily as long as he kept his bones covered. He ducked around people and took quick glances at shops until he found a building that looked like it might serve alcohol.

_ Grillby’s _ .

With a quick glance both ways on the street, Cambria dashed over to the building and smoothly entered, tugging his hood further over his face in case somebody got a good look at his skull and decided they’d rather talk with fists rather than words.

Technically, nobody should know him in this world, but it was a hard learned habit that he wasn’t quite ready to get rid of yet. He took a few glances around the room and shuffled towards the counter.

There were at least three open barstools, which allowed Cambria to slip up to the bar without any trouble.

He drummed his phalanges against the wood of the bar a few times, before stopping abruptly  <strike> (you hated that noise… but you weren’t here….) </strike> . It caught the attention of the bartender, who turned towards Cambria.

It was an reddish-orange flame elemental dressed in your typical old-timey bar attire, complete with spectacles which sat upon his fiery face. Without removing his hoodie, Cambria stuttered out his order.

“J-Just something strong, please?”

… Only a few crackling noises followed from the elemental, much to the confusion of Cambria.

“Grillby’s askin’ for your card.” A plant-esque monster chimed in from a few seats over.

Oh. Of  _ course _ .

“I, um, forgot it? It’s okay, though, I’m over twenty one.”

… Silence… A few crackles.

“Sorry, bud. No card, no drinks.” The plant patted Cambria’s back with a leaf before retracting it.

Feeling a little desperate, Cambria fished the money he’d gotten from Papyrus out of his pocket and slammed it down on the counter

“Listen, guy, okay? I just need enough to get a buzz, I just want a buzz right now, okay?” 

There were few more crackles, and Cambria didn’t wait for the plant to translate. Fire Face wasn’t pouring him something, so he assumed it was another rejection and  _ just _ \- turning to the plant, Cambria started hyperventilating, “Tell him I just want a buzz!”

The bar tender slowly shook his head, the light from his own fire glinting off his glasses.

“... Maybe it would be best… if you came back another time, kid.” The plant said.

Cambria stared numbly at the counter, at the money he’d put down. The money that he’d gotten from a perfectly nice monster.

He stuffed the bills into his pocket and shoved himself off the stool, not bothering to look back. He tugged on his hood a few more times, gaze cast down.

_ Fuck. Fuck. _

Where the hell was he supposed to go now? He could try another bar, but he doubted the results would be any different, and any store he bought liquor from would definitely try to card him as well…

He  _ could _ try to take to the streets and see if there were any dealers that would sell him something nice, but he was fairly certain anything a human dealer had wouldn’t be compatible with his monster biology, plus, there was the added fact that despite how Cambria knew to  _ spot _ a dealer,  _ interacting _ with one was completely out of his area of expertise.

Usually, he  _ was _ the dealer. He lived by his own rules, sold on his own terms.

… There was also the little detail that it was the middle of the day, and any decent dealers would be  _ very _ hard to find at this time.

Should he just give up? There was no way he was getting any sort of high today - at least not without a card, which he wasn’t going to be able to get until he went through a complete legal process. Which would take about a month.

Which left Cambria with the exciting prospect of finding a taxi and going home to face a household of (most likely) hostile skeletons, or taking a walk to cool down.

… 

Cambria chose to walk.

He circled the blocks around the store where Papyrus had dropped him off until the sun started to sink. While he did this, Cambia thought.

Was he going to go back ‘home’ tonight? He had to, didn’t he? You were there, waiting for him. Was he going to go through with all this legal bullshit? Again, he pretty much had to - without it, he couldn’t get a job or an ID, and thus, would have to rely on the skeletons (who hated him) to provide for him.

Fuck. What was he going to do?

….

…

..

It was dark when Cambria found himself in the middle of the medicine aisle of the grocery store he was  _ supposed _ to be in hours ago.

Entering the building was like a small slice of heaven, the muggy humidity being banished from his bones as the AC hit him.

At some point, he found himself looking over the wall of vitamin gummies, mind blanking as he tried to pick a brand out.  _ But there were so many brands, so many shapes, so many colors… who the hell needs so many variations of stupid little gummies?? _

The most logical place to start was with a gummy brand that was consumable by monsters…

Probably something with cute characters on it, something like in those cartoons you said you’d like to watch the last time he’d spent the day with you… 

Something large clipped Cambria’s back, sending a jolt of shock up his spine and putting him through a small panicked spiral of whirling thoughts.

_ What the fuck?? Who the hell -  _

“Oh, sorry!” A voice broke Cambria out of his thoughts, pulling him back into the world around him. Bright, fluorescent shop lights and reflective tiles beneath his feet. Endless aisles of products that all looked the same…

… He’s always hated grocery shopping.

The lady who’d accidently bumped her cart into Cambria came around the wheeled weapon to check on him.

She was very tall, and covered in snow white fur. She had two small nubby horns on the top of her head. She was… a goat?

Motherly wine red eyes peaked out from the fur and looked over him with concern. “I’m sorry, young man, I didn’t mean to get you there… are you alright?”

Cambria blinked a few times, looking back towards the wall of gummies then back to the lady. “I, um, yeah. I’m fine. Just a small bump.”

“Well, thank the stars! If I may inquire… what is one such as yourself doing here so late?” She rested her large paws (wait… goats don’t have paws…) on the handle of her cart and gave him a curious look.

“Just… looking for… vitamin gummies? For my sister,” Cambria clarified, gesturing towards the shelves of gummies.

The goat’s eyes brightened, “My! What a responsible young man. Your sister must be very lucky. What’s her favorite type?”

Feeling out of his element, Cambria shrugged.

“I really don’t know…”

The lady hummed, looking over the shelves. “Well, perhaps ones with fun shapes… does she like cartoons?”

“Yes! I mean, uh, yeah…” 

The lady pulled down a large container and handed it to Cambria. “I do know that  _ my _ child likes this show… maybe your sister does, as well?”

Cambria looked over the cute characters on the bottle and nodded. This did seem like something you would like.

“Yeah…. Thanks..?”

“Oh, Toriel will do. And you are?”

“Ahhh… just call me Cam.”

Toriel smiled gently, before resuming her shopping, wheeling away from Cambria. He clutched the container to his chest, something warm blooming inside his rib cage.

Random kindness from a stranger is always nice.

++

When Cambria got back to the house, he had about half the original amount of money in his pocket, although his SOUL felt much fuller. Everytime he looked down at the container of gummies… his SOUL swelled in happiness.

It felt… nice… to do something for someone else, for once. He could imagine how happy you would be that he got you something… even if it was something like gummies…

There was a small grin on his face when he opened the front door of the lodge, which was thankfully not locked.

He saw you on the couch, swaddled in blankets, and he felt his SOUL soar for a few seconds, wanting to call out to you and show you what he got…

… Until he noticed that you were asleep. Cuddled up to one of the  _ other _ skeletons. One of the ones who looked like a hot topic advertisement - the shorter one, Red.

An ugly feeling replaced the warm one from only moments ago.

Forgetting the bag that contained the gummies, Cambria dropped them onto the floor and stomped over to the couch. He swiped you from Red’s side and glared at the skeleton.

“What the hell, dude?!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> for all of you who thought cambria couldn't get worse:
> 
> don't worry, you're about to be proved wrong.
> 
> at least blue's trying to redeem him though? mostly out of spite, but you know, whatever.
> 
> leave a comment if you'd like ;)
> 
> sorry i haven't updated in so long ^^;

**Author's Note:**

> :::DD
> 
> sooooo... i know i haven't updated it's all bones, baby, in a while.... but.... in my defense.... i'm not so inspired for that right now. i've been trying to write a lot of other ideas i have to get them out of my system and get me inspired for iabb... and this was one of them...
> 
> in case you couldn't tell...
> 
> ... this is basically an au where chippy is a lot younger and her brother is still alive. if you have NO idea what i'm talking about, read my original fic, [here](https://archiveofourown.org/works/17084126/chapters/40175081)!
> 
> also, this story has some way darker themes that deal with addiction and depression, so take care of yourself! don't read it if you think that it's not good for you! this story is also rated m for that! there will be no smut!!
> 
> this story will follow the plot of iabb for the first chapters, then branch out as the characters respond and act very differently here!


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